welcome to world news tonight. digging out, the big new year's storm freezing and snarling half the country. major highways still shut down, a town flooded by ice. and families still camped out at airports from the holidays, our full team in the polar air tonight. on the rise, the flu on the march, we'll tell you where and how it starts. and skater scandal 20 years later. >> why? why? tonight tonya harding talks about the day of that attack on nancy kerrigan. >> it was like, i just couldn't believe what is being said. good evening to you on this friday night, as hundreds of millions of us bundle up, dig

out and try to battle our way home after that big storm. and it's not just the snow, a lot of this country now frozen in place by bone chilling cold. and tonight, our extreme weather team is out in force. from frozen roads to frozen airports. and the new storm to come. abc's ron claiborne leads us off in boston. ron. >> reporter: i am in boston at samuel hall this city was hit with more than a foot of snow from this storm leaving it a ghost town. let me show you what 3,000 work crews have dealt with all day. taking all of that snow, and pushing it into mini mountains of snow like this one that i'm standing on. it turned out to be every bit as fierce as promised. a howling, shrieking winter snowstorm driven by winds that during the overnight peak clocked in at 55 miles per hour in some areas. wcvb meteorologist danielle vollmer demonstrated its sheer

power. >> whoa! >> reporter: in the hardest hit area, nearly two feet of snow fell. and in boston, 17.8 inches, new york city, 6.4 inches of snow. and philadelphia, nine inches. and snow as far south at washington d.c. >> i drove from virginia back to philly, and the roads were horrendous. >> reporter: the famous long island expressway was shut down though not everyone heeded the announcement. in monmouth beach, new jersey, the problem wasn't snow but flooding, this mailman had to be rescued when the truck became stuck in icy waters. in massachusetts, the porch of a seaside home was bombarded by waves and then encased in ice. and in boston, this strange sight. an urban skier. by the time it subsided midday, winter's wrath had left millions

and millions of tons of snow to be cleared. some of it by plow. a whole lot of it the old fashioned way. >> probably three feet underneath the steps here. another three feet in the driveway. >> reporter: for so many in this part of the country, the storm was at best an inconvenience. and at worst, a nightmare. ns visiting maine it was picture perfect. one fortunate aspect of the storm, very few people lost power. which would have been a terrible ordeal for many people with temperatures plunging below zero throughout the region. diane. >> how does that happen? that so many power lines stayed intact? >> reporter: well, this storm occurred in temperatures that were so cold, that the snow that fell was light and fluffy. unlike that blizzard almost a year ago, which was very heavy and wet. and that meant it did not bring down power lines, very fortunate for a lot of people tonight. diane. >> from the snow bank in boston,

thank you so much, ron claiborne. light and fluffy or not all that weather had a ripple effect on travel across the country. 9,000 flights delayed or cancelled. abc's linzie janis with the families camped out at the airport. >> reporter: at airports across the country, passengers sprawled out, sleeping in chairs, on window sills, some lucky enough to snag a cot. >> horrible. never do it again. >> we were patient and hoping for the best, unfortunately we spent the night in the chapel. >> reporter: dozens slept on these camp beds, the doors opening all night long and letting freezing air in, all they had was this thin blanket to cover them. jamie gurcay is trying to get home to orlando. >> the lady told me the first available seats coming out of here were sunday morning at 6:50. no vouchers for hotel or food. >> reporter: what's your plan?

>> i will sit here as long as i can. >> reporter: this group of college students camped out on the floor. how do you feel about spending another night here? >> i just got 24 hour wifi, i have netflix. so i'm okay. >> reporter: outside, airport deicers sprayed grounded planes. in chicago, the luggage piled high. as travelers hunkered down. >> our flight kept getting pushed back. >> reporter: nationwide, more than 2500 flights cancelled today, another 5100 delayed. the ripple effects of this nightmare nor'easter stretching to packed terminals in austin and to san diego, where hundreds waited in line and flights were backed up for hours. travelers tweeted stranded selfies and endless cups of coffee. in atlanta one family broke out the playing cards. >> we want to get home. >> reporter: perseverance is starting to pay off. >> this morning's flight was cancelled, i couldn't get through southwest couldn't help me on the phone.

so i came here this morning. >> reporter: this afternoon her flight finally left sunny florida. and landed later in snowy new york. a happy ending after a very long trip. here in laguardia the crowds have died down. we're told that most of the backlog should be cleared by saturday afternoon, though some unlucky passengers have to wait until sunday or monday to get home. diane. >> another long night for a lot of them, thanks so much. and here's a perfect symbol of what a lot of families face once they land. airport parking lots filled with cars. buried in snow. but there are people who showed up for work today no matter the numbing cold. and they did it to help others. abc's gio benitez has the heroes of the cold. >> reporter: all across this frozen nation, workers like this michigan mailman, who has no other choice but to be outside in 15 degree cold. >> today i'll be in the field about seven hours. >> reporter: in new york, this

delivery man, pushing packages of meat through the snow. in maryland, a postal worker climbing on the hood of his delivery truck to clear off ice. and here in chicago, where this morning we faced wind chills of 12 below zero, firefighters were called to a three alarm fire. frigid temperatures freezing icicles on that fire hydrant. >> most people can stay inside but your firefighters have to be out here in the cold. whether it's icy cold conditions, or its hot conditions, either way, the firefighters, they have a battle in front of them. >> reporter: the deep freeze closing schools in wisconsin, which logged its coldest temperatures in nearly four decades. it's going to get worse. minnesota already cancelling monday's classes for the first time in 17 years. it's brutal, look at these bubbles in buffalo and massachusetts, shattering in the cold. the cold weather workers don't break so easily. but here in the emergency room, cold means danger.

what are your biggest concerns here in this er room today. >> my largest concerns would be folks underprepared for the extreme temperatures, not limiting their time outside, not dressing appropriately. >> reporter: if you're worried your body temperature is too low and you may be suffering from hypothermia, look out for the umbles, stumbling, mumbling, fumbling or grumbling, all signs to go inside. and take a look behind me, this is lake michigan here in chicago, completely frozen over in the harbor, the wind starting to pick up. it's getting colder and colder. just a taste of what's to come. that arctic blast, diane. >> all right, gio, that brings us straight to abc's chief medical editor dr. richard besser, wants to talk more about these dangers, specifically what you do. >> it's very concerning. you know, if you look this weekend, green bay, wisconsin, the packers will play in their game, if you factor in the wind, it's going to get down to 40 degrees below zero. that's a remarkable temperature. very dangerous.

i went outside this afternoon, with a thermal camera, you can see in red here, everywhere that the heat is getting out. and these are pictures of me, without my hat, my gloves, my jacket open for a period of four minutes, see the red, that's heat escaping if you're not completely bundled up, the wind pulls the heat away. that's a road to hypothermia. now, this is what you see, when frostbite sits in. and it's frightening. you take off your glove over the course of one minute, the heat in red has left the fingers, and it's soon to be frostbite. >> so any part of you exposed even your chest in a sweater can lose heat so rapidly. >> you're losing it from everywhere. >> if you think you have frostbite, what do you do? you don't put your hand in warm hot water? >> hot water can be dangerous, your hand is numb you can get a burn. you want lukewarm water. you don't want to rub your hands together. that can cause more damage. just let them gradually warm up. but the key is prevention, bundle up so you don't get this in the first place. >> seal yourself off. >> that's the way to go. >> thank you, rich.

now to abc's meteorologist ginger zee for a final word on the snow, the cold, and what is ahead. ginger. out in the cold still. >> reporter: out in the cold, and just barely above zero is what it feels like in new york city. the wind chill about 3. here's what will happen. it is not just new york city. it is parts of new england, upper midwest. great lakes, i want to show you exactly what goes on. because as far south as atlanta, see the panhandle of florida all in blue, that's frost advisories, freeze warnings in places, even wind chill advisories, prolific throughout the region. 21 below by tomorrow morning in fargo. then we talk about another snowstorm, yes, i said another snowstorm. this one, though, going to impact areas that did not get hit the first time. just south of chicago, i think ape majority bigger totals will stay, indianapolis in there, st. louis, detroit again. southeastern michigan, parts of toledo, watch out as we go saturday night into sunday. that's when that storm attacks. and then the cold, diane. this is how combed.

this is how cold. you keep hearing epic cold. the coldest since the mid'90s, numbers in the morning in minneapolis close to 30 below, that's actual air temperature, not yet wind chill. >> all right, ginger zee, and you bundle up, too. i know you're a professional, but you bundle up as well. now another important map tonight. tracking the flu. which is making a strong comeback after a slow start. just last week, six states reported a high level of flu. but tonight, the map stretches to 20 states. and abc's aditi roy has that story. >> reporter: the flu is now hitting hard and spreading fast. it first took off in the south. with texas and mississippi getting hit before thanksgiving. now into the southeast and the west. the cdc says the dominant strain so far this season? the h1n1 virus, which hits young and middle aged harder than older people, who may have developed some immunity after

facing a similar strain in the 1940s and '50s. the message tonight, it's not too late to get a flu shot. officials say it can reduce your chances of getting the virus by 50 to 70%. the best and quickest protection, against what is now a fast moving enemy. aditi roy, abc news, san francisco. >> and we've moved next to the headlines tonight about an interview on a very strange anniversary. 20 years ago, two skaters were vying for the olympic team, nancy kerrigan and tonya harding, suddenly kerrigan was attacked. tonight all these years later, tonya harding talks to our partner network espn about that day and that event. and here is abc's john donvan. >> reporter: it was art and grace, and weightlessness. and then it was tabloid. 20 years ago, two working class girls, who had grown up into two

world class skaters. nancy kerrigan and tonya harding, both with a shot at olympic gold. and then this, someone went after nancy kerrigan, tried to break her leg. whacking it with a rod just above the knee. >> why? why? why? >> reporter: turns out that someone was hired by a certain jeff gilloolly married to tonya harding. everyone got caught. harding was rounded up, too. >> i want to talk to you guys, you'll hear more in a few days. >> how are you feeling? >> it's been a long week. we are doing okay. >> reporter: harding pled guilty to conspiracy, to this day she said she only learned of the plot after the hit had happened on kerrigan. >> i never met or talked to didn't even know the other persons that were involved. everything just -- you know, you get hit by everything all at once. and you just want to crawl in a closet and say go away, leave me alone, you just don't know

what's going on. >> reporter: kerrigan won silver at the olympic games that year. since then neither woman has said much about it. which makes it a rare thing that harding is talking now. in a new espn documentary. still angry about a sport she says, where the judges always have their favorites. >> there was one year i had like a bright pink color, that i made myself. i mean, it was really pretty. one of the judges came up to me afterwards and said, you know what, if you ever wear anything like that again at a u.s. championship, you will never do another one. and i told them where to go. i said, well, you know what, if you can come up with $5,000 for a costume for me, then i won't have to make it. but until then, stay out of my face. and i turned around and walked off. and diane was like, oh, my god. but that's how they are. if it's not their way, it's the highway.

>> reporter: bad feelings that have been on ice a long time. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> and make a note, espn's 30 for 30 documentary, the price of gold airs january 16. and still ahead here on world news -- >> folks in the navy s.e.a.l. community say you're not a commando you're a con artist. >> did this impostor make money pretending to be a navy s.e.a.l., we investigate in two minutes. navy s.e.a.l., we investigate in two minutes. ♪ [ male announcer ] your eyes. even at a distance of 10 miles... the length of 146 football fields... they can see the light of a single candle. your eyes are amazing. look after them with centrum silver. multivitamins with lutein and vitamins a, c, and e to support healthy eyes and packed with key nutrients to support your heart and brain, too. centrum silver.

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robitussin nighttime. don't suffer the coughequences. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. [ male announcer ] just a few dabs is clinically proven to seal out more food particles. [ corrine ] super poligrip is part of my life now. ♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. next tonight, an accused impostor, who reportedly lured investors by pretending to be a navy s.e.a.l., abc's matt gutman decided to investigate. >> clear, come around and shoot. >> reporter: as a.j. dicken liked to tell people, he wasn't just any old navy s.e.a.l. he claimed to be the most decorated navy s.e.a.l. in history, even says he fired the kill shot on

osama bin laden he ran a military style self defense school. carol roberts was his student. what was your first impression of him? >> big guy, he commands authority by his size. >> reporter: but dicken told carol, he'd set his sights on something bigger. an international security firm and convinced a pair of local doctors to invest $850,000 in his company. >> he said, i'm ex-navy s.e.a.l., then i went into the cia after i retired from the s.e.a.l.s. >> reporter: business was taking off so he hired carol. you actually quit a good job in order to work with dicken, because you thought the money was coming in. >> yes. because i had seen the contracts. >> reporter: a $500 million contract to do security in africa. on paper at least. suspicious of his story she asks a real navy s.e.a.l. don shipley about dicken. shipley has access to the restricted s.e.a.l. database and exposes dicken as a fraud.

how many guys have you exposed? >> thousands. >> reporter: thousands. >> yeah. i verify on average at least 20 fraudulent s.e.a.l. claims a day. >> reporter: turns out he wasn't the guy who killed bin laden but a former bartender with a rap sheet who never served a day in the military. >> it was all a great big fraud. >> reporter: outed dicken disappears, months later we track him down in arkansas. how you doing, mr. dicken. >> i have nothing to say to you. >> reporter: folks in the navy s.e.a.l. community say you're not a commando you're a con artist. >> i have nothing to say. >> reporter: his investors say they want their money, and nevada wants dicken for felony weapons charges. matt gutman, abc news, miami. >> matt's full report and more on hoaxes and cons on a special 20/20, the big lie tonight at 10:00 eastern. and still ahead, did you see the fan and the photo bomb fail right on live tv. right on live tv.

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tushy trying to photo bomb a reporter. again in slo mo. and the michigan state players who won the rose bowl but missed with the gatorade. finally, in vegas, beyonce made a sick little girl's wish come true. ♪ >> reporter: that was the instant index, i'm nick watt. >> next right here tonight, some people who gave so much to total strangers. coming up. coming up. he has the most common kind... ...it's not caused by a heart valve problem. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day. but it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate)... ...was proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke. and unlike warfarin, with no regular blood tests or dietary restrictions. hey thanks for calling my doctor. sure. pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves. don't stop taking pradaxa

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[ woman ] hop on over! the holidays winding down, this weekend, some people have taken the time to show kindness to a stranger. and changed their lives. abc's steve osunsami with our persons of the week. >> reporter: elliott shirback is a young man with downs syndrome who overheard something hurtful at the grocery store with his mother. you left your idiot kid in the lane, the guy said. ann daggette says she asked her son what would cheer him up. he told her 100 christmas cards, she took it to her facebook page, if anyone could send him a card, he would love it. thousands came in the mail. >> wow. i got 2,000 christmas cards from every person that gave to me

around the world. it's unbelievable. >> reporter: tonight elliott and so many others are cheering the every day people, who took a second out of their day this busy holiday season to do something so little. to dana hoffman, and her daughter emily in ohio, who found a bag of presents that fell from the roof of a car and found the little boy they were meant for. >> i was just hoping somebody out there would know somebody that lost these gifts. >> reporter: to those secret santas who left thousand dollar tips for their waiters and went to walmart stores across the country and paid off lay away bills buying arm fulls of toys. >> they put my faith in mankind back to where it needed to be. it's not much to a lot of people, but to me it's a million dollars. it made a little boy very happy. it really did. >> reporter: at the shirback house today in upstate new york, the cards are still coming in for elliott. >> remember even when people are mean, there are even more people who are nice and spread their love.

have a happy new year. the phillips family in endicott city, maryland. >> even more people who are nice, they are our persons of the week. don't miss david muir right here all weekend we will leave you with photos you sent us, thank you for the pictures of the beautiful babies' first time in the snow. have a great weekend. good night. night. >> a new crack down on speeders and jayhawkers in san francisco. >> and a court hearing over the fate of jahi mcmath. >> results of the snow sur

vachlt what it could mean for water supply. >> how would you like to learn how to fly, for free? >> car hit him so hard he flies out of the crosswalk and lands over there. >> a rising danger for pedestrians in one neighborhood the crack down right now after four accidents this week including one today good evening. >> i'm carolyn johnson. now it's dark out side. and rush hour is underway, police are out in force, giving that more urgency >> the accidents placed in the tender loin area, starting on new year's eve and now, san francisco police have launched a traffic enforcement operation. >> abc7 news joins us live from the scene at hooid and bush. >> well, this street is just

crawling with police on motorcycles. they're here just a little while ago and moved north and will probably be back here. now, we witnessed a lot of stops here today, again, at the morning commute. i know it's trite, but i apologized in advantages but like shooting nish a barrel. >> motorcycle units came back again at 5:00 to continue the traffic enforcement. they use a device employing lasers to check speeds of the cars. in the morning things were no different. police were stopping cars left and right here on the bush street corridor into lower knob hill. this had become a dangerous road for